Burien Deputy who hit & killed pedestrian in Fife was same who shot man with pen

The off-duty Burien Police officer who struck and killed a pedestrian in Fife early Friday morning (July 7) has been identified as the same one who fatally shot a 20-year old man holding a pen in Burien June 13 (read more here).

The Deputy, age 38, was identified by The Seattle Weekly at that time as Cesar Molina.

Police say he was driving home from work just after 2 a.m. Friday morning when he struck a pedestrian who was in the middle of the roadway near the 2400 block of Pacific Hwy South in Fife.

The pedestrian was subsequently hit by another vehicle and died at the scene.

After the June 13 shooting, the officer attended a critical incident stress debriefing and met with a mental health professional. Police say he also saw a departmentally approved psychologist who approved his return to work, which occurred June 30.

The site of the accident is a commercial area in Fife that has sidewalks on both sides of the street.

The Fife Police Department is the lead agency investigating the accident, and the deputy is now on administrative leave pending results of that investigation.

On my way to fatal auto/pedestrian accident involving deputy in the 2300 blk of Pacific Hwy E near Fife. Will update after I arrive.

Comments

I don’t see a crosswalk any were in the pictures. The first tweet was at 3:03 am. Chances are it was a jay walker. I realize this happen in fire but I have noticed some people jay walking around burien or crossing in the crosswalk against the light. Not to smart out of the crosswalk you get hit it’s your fault not the drivers. Crossing in the crosswalk against the light chances are your going to have to prove the light said walk. Court case possible jail time or a settlement. If you can prove the driver was at fault.

Just remember by state law there is a legal crosswalk at EVERY signed intersection, whether painted or not. So that picture was taken literally standing in a legal but unpainted crosswalk, at 26th and Pacific.

People are driving way too fast if they can’t stop for someone in the road in time. Posted limit where this guy died is 35, and the road is flat and straight with clear sightlines for blocks and blocks. Should be plenty of warning to stop.

RCW 46.61.240
Crossing at other than crosswalks.
(1) Every pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point other than within a marked crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles upon the roadway.
(2) Where curb ramps exist at or adjacent to intersections or at marked crosswalks in other locations, disabled persons may enter the roadway from the curb ramps and cross the roadway within or as closely as practicable to the crosswalk. All other pedestrian rights and duties as defined elsewhere in this chapter remain applicable.
(3) Any pedestrian crossing a roadway at a point where a pedestrian tunnel or overhead pedestrian crossing has been provided shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles upon the roadway.
(4) Between adjacent intersections at which traffic-control signals are in operation pedestrians shall not cross at any place except in a marked crosswalk.
(5) No pedestrian shall cross a roadway intersection diagonally unless authorized by official traffic-control devices; and, when authorized to cross diagonally, pedestrians shall cross only in accordance with the official traffic-control devices pertaining to such crossing movements.
(6) No pedestrian shall cross a roadway at an unmarked crosswalk where an official sign prohibits such crossing.

#1 of the RCW is pretty specific. That means a pedestrian cannot stop and glare at traffic and get upset that they don’t stop for you. Even then, there is an expectation you will put one foot off the curb as a signal to drivers you want to cross. But that does not mean you are entitled to have drivers stop for you.

It also means that drivers should NOT stop for people at those places. They need to wait for the traffic to clear. You create a dangerous conditioon for other drivers behind you who are not expecting you to stop.

RCW 46.61.235 (1)
Crosswalks.
(1) The operator of an approaching vehicle shall stop and remain stopped to allow a pedestrian or bicycle to cross the roadway within an unmarked or marked crosswalk when the pedestrian or bicycle is upon or within one lane of the half of the roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling or onto which it is turning. For purposes of this section “half of the roadway” means all traffic lanes carrying traffic in one direction of travel, and includes the entire width of a one-way roadway.

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Note: MARKED OR UNMARKED

Unless there is a sign expressly forbidding it, as in RCW 46.61.240 (6), this means every signed intersection. There does not need to be paint on the ground or a yellow diamond sign with a cute drawing on it.

Note: SHALL STOP AND REMAIN STOPPED.

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The other RCW seems to actually allow jaywalking, so long as they yield to traffic and are not directly between two consecutive signaled intersections. This surprises me, I thought it was ticketable under all circumstances. But it’s a sensible nod to the reality that if there isn’t a crosswalk around people are just gonna go.

While I definitely don’t agree with the rampant and entitled jaywalking that has been occurring in Burien and the greater Seattle area, I’m a little suspicious of this officer. He doesn’t seem to be using his judgement (or lacks it altogether.) I’m shocked that he is still getting pushed through.

Well as it’s been reported it sounds as if he follow protocol on the shooting.

Now driving a police car down a road at 2:30am I don’t think he would propitiously hit someone. Even if jaywalking he could call it in since he was out of his area. It sound like more of a odd set of circumstances.

I actually know a guy a few years ago that got in a similar situation. Where a guy was jaywalking drunk late at night. He didn’t kill the guy but he did hit him. The driver had make a police report and go to court. But they found the guy was drunk and jaywalking in kinda dark clothing at like 12am. The driver was completely sober and just did not see the guy in time. It was a complete accident so they let driver go he did nothing wrong not his fault. It was scary for the driver of course .

So sad James taitano like a brother inlaw. Im wondering why! The families deserve apologie from the officer. He should resign. Who wants to dial 911 and have Ceaser Molina show up not me! Twitter @253sand check out YouTube “King Co. Deputy kills 2”

The fife police have already said it was the second car that kill the gentlemen the police car was the first .

Maybe you can shed light on why your friend or brother in-law was in the street crossing at dark area with out a crosswalk at 2:30am. Where not only one car hit him but two cars hit him unfortunately killing him.

Can you explain why a 20 year male did not respond to a warning shot from a neighbor and two sets of taser hitting him from two police officers yelling at him to put down the object and show his hands .

Can you explain why some people feel as they can ignore the police but when something happens all of a sudden the police office is at blame. Not the person breaking the law and not listing to the police commands.